Messina Line to ship for Dakar 2020
The Dakar 2020 (formerly Paris-Dakar) – the 42nd edition in the history of this race - will take place entirely in Saudi Arabia for the first time. In Jeddah, the “Jolly Palladio” of the Messina Line landed 140 motorcycles, 72 cars, 45 trucks, 43 SSV, 20 quad, 300 service vehicles and 10 helicopters.
The "Jolly Palladio", which flies the Italian flag and is equipped with scrubbers in line with current anti-pollution regulations, belongs to the Genoa-based shipping group Ignazio Messina. It shipped from France to the Saudi port all the vehicles that will compete on almost 8,000 km of desert.
Under an agreement between the Italian Shipping Company, the forwarding agent of the Saudi ministry of sport AET and the ASO Group, the historic organiser of the race (as well as events such as the Tour de France and the Vuelta), the whole cargo - occupying over five linear km of storage space on a ship - was transported by the "Jolly Palladio".
The vessel was built in 2015. At the end of January, when the rally is over, all the vehicles and materials will be re-loaded onto the Italian ship, bound for Marseille. (mw)